Some would say pasta is the ultimate comfort food and I am not here to disagree. Sometimes it’s as easy as throwing pasta in some boiling water and tossing the noodles with a jar of pre-made sauce and calling it a day. Though it may be intimidating at first, making sauce from scratch is not that difficult and if you have the inclination to do so, it really is worth the extra effort.

This is a take on a puttanesca sauce, which includes the briny tang of capers and Kalamata olives, however, with a simple pomodoro sauce in mind, I added a bit of ghee (or you could use a pat of butter) to really round out its flavor and then stirred in about a ½ cup of pasta water to make the sauce cling to the noodles. You can pump up the nutrition a bit by using whole wheat spaghetti or even zucchini noodles or toss in some extra veggies such as squash, broccoli or spinach. This time, I just wanted a simple pasta dish with a sauce that I could call my own.

spaghetti with olives & capers

Whole-wheat spaghetti tossed in a slurp-able sauce and punctuated with the briny tang of olives and capers really doesn’t get much better! Unless you top your bowl with Parmesan cheese and basil…and then it does.

Increase the heat to medium and season with kosher salt. Then add in the pureed tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, olive brine, caper brine and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and flavors come together about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in basil sprigs and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with kosher salt and cook spaghetti, stirring occasionally until about 2 minutes before noodles are tender. Reserve about ½ a cup of pasta water while draining pasta.

Discard basil in skillet and warm sauce over high heat. Stir in pasta water to loosen sauce, and bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook, stirring so sauce coats the pasta, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add ghee and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Toss together until cheese and ghee melt.

This salad screams summertime! Though it’s only April, we’re getting summertime vibes over here and I am (somewhat) ready. I’m ready to walk away from the stove and fire up the grill. I’m ready to simply toss some veggies together to accompany our meal and call it day. I’m envisioning sitting with my husband on our back patio at dusk under the twinkling pergola lights, listening to our wind chime dance in the breeze. While sipping on an ice-cold, crisp glass of Pinot Grigio, I am wholeheartedly enjoying this salad on a perfect summer evening.

I feel like this recipe isn’t really a recipe since I’ve made this countless times, changing it up a bit here and there throughout its rotation in my kitchen.

What remains constant, though, are the Mediterranean flavors woven throughout the dish- a good dose of chickpeas for protein and fiber, kalamata olives for a briney bite, artichokes and kale because vegetables are a must and a solid helping of farro because it’s my favorite grain and adds a nice chewy texture. There is, of course, feta on top because cheese is a staple around here and its saltiness is perfect.

In elementary school, Tuesdays and Thursdays were THE best lunch days because I was able to indulge in fast food (just a little bit), Doritos and chocolate chip cookies instead of my usual boring PB&J with pretzels. Food that I really didn’t eat too often at home.

We would line up by class to pick up our one Taco Bell taco or McDonald’s hamburger and had the option to purchase a bag of chips for $0.25 or a cookies for five cent a piece. With only a quarter in my pocket, the big dilemma was choosing the bag of chips or five (whole) cookies. Life decisions for a third-grader. If I chose the chips, I had to do it quickly because the good ones like the Doritos, Lay’s or white cheddar popcorn were always sold out first, leaving only the Salt & Vinegar flavor. Ew. No thank you. It was the vinegar smell that completely turned me off and lingered in my nostrils if anyone even opened a bag.